Narrow Lots

Hi All,

Good to read some of the valuable learnings that have been had while building a home! I have a lot to learn.

Anyway, we have just purchased a narrow lot, 450sq block - 12.1m wide - 37m length from road to rear boundary with great ocean views on the gold coast.

Has anyone had experience building on a similar property with views from the rear?

I have been researching Henley's Qld Plantation Group and Ausbuild which I think is owned by Ray White. Both have ok designs, but they have been quite unable to supply me with adequate information on the finer costs. It seems to get this I have to engage them first and this will cost $$$.

There are also a few local builders which seem cheaper, but things seem even less certain or secure with them dispite the savings.

Any advice guys?

Hehe... your block is massive compared to our tiny 10m wide by 25.5m deep block!

Anyway, speaking as someone building with a small builder/developer. I can say that they generally seem to be cheaper than the larger builders. For us originally our contract price was ~$176000 but through extras (better kitchens etc.) is now up to ~$190000, however, this is still considerably cheaper than other larger even medium builders could build our house for (low 200k's). You do get what you pay for though, larger builders seem to move things along a bit quicker, have interior designers etc. on staff and things are less "up in the air" as with smaller builders sometimes.

You're right, most builders are unwilling to firm up a quote without some outlay of money first (for engineering/soil reports etc). In our experience most builders were happy to design a plan for you for free except the design would be in their name. Our builder charged us $1500 to draw up our plans (with their consulting architect). The plans were in our name and we were free to get quotes with them from other builders. And we did, most quotes would generally only allow a small amount for foundations etc. so be careful. A friend here at work got shafted with a $17000 variance for foundations. Our original builder included all additional site works in the contract (which was also fixed). So we decided to proceed with them, they then charged us another $1500 for soil/engineering reports/working drawings and gave us a final contract price. A $1000 deposit later and we were in business.

As for builders in QLD, I can't really help you 'cause I'm in SA. But I wouldn't hesitate in using a small builder again. You might find if your design is a bit different small builders might be your only option. Our design is certainly not the norm and the big boys really weren't interested, one mid range builder even went as far as quoting us $325,000 just to get rid of us!

So hope some of that helps, cheers.